This invention relates to methods of receiving and transporting solid waste and garbage.
Various types of vehicles are known for transporting waste and garbage to a disposable site. Some of these waste disposal vehicles employ a fork lift on the front, rear or side thereof which can be used to lift a relatively large, metal container from one position to another or which can be used on some trucks to lift and dump a large steel container so that the contents of the waste container are deposited into a hold in the vehicle. In many cases, the forklift devices on these vehicles are constructed only to lift containers having pockets or sleeves on the sides thereof for insertion of fork arms.
A variety of forklift vehicles or units are known and are capable of lifting a pallet loaded with boxes or other items or products. It is also known to provide a system whereby a forklift unit can be mounted at the rear end of a truck in order to transport the forklift unit to a work site. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,739 issued Mar. 11, 2003 teaches a forklift that can be mounted on a carrier vehicle, the forklift including a frame, a mast connected to the frame, and a fork carriage having a pair of forks extending therefrom and adapted to be vertically displacable on the mast. The vehicle includes a rear mounting end with at least one fork receiver adapted to receive the pair of forks therein and to allow complete lifting of the forklift off a ground surface by vertically displacing the fork carriage. Another, earlier patent disclosing a forklift vehicle and method of mounting same on the rear end of a truck is U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,379 issued Mar. 26, 1974 to T. H. A. Grether et al.
It is a common practice to provide a large, steel waste disposal bin at a construction site for the disposal of waste materials and, in particular, waste construction materials. However, it can be unduly expensive to use this method for disposing of construction waste under some circumstances, for example, on a small construction site where the amount of waste may not be very great or on a “do it yourself” construction site where the construction work or renovations may progress relatively slowly, for example, at the pace that the homeowner is prepared to work on the project.
Another difficulty with the large, known waste disposal bins is that in order to deliver these bins to a waste producing site or job site, a relatively large truck is required and generally this truck must be fitted with special features to enable it to deposit the large container or bin at a suitable location at the site. When the waste container has eventually been filled, this relatively large truck must then return to the construction or other site in order either to pick-up the large container and its contents for transport to a waste disposal site or to dump the contents of the waste container into a waste containing box of the truck and then leave the waste container at the site for further use.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of receiving and transporting solid waste for affecting disposal thereof includes providing a disposable waste container having a capacity of at least 500 pounds of suitable, solid waste and a disposable pallet capable of supporting the waste container when the container is loaded with this solid waste. After the container has been loaded in whole or in part by the user with the container resting on and supported by the pallet and the waste container is ready for transport to a disposal site, the pallet and container are lifted and moved onto a rear end section of a truck. Then the pallet and waste container together are moved to a forward position on a transporting bed of the truck by means of a conveyor system arranged on and forming at least a substantial portion of the transporting bed. The pallet and container are later transported by means of the truck to a waste disposal site for disposal thereof at this site.
According to one version of this method, the disposable waste container is constructed of strong corrugated cardboard panels which are biodegradable and coated on an exterior surface thereof with a water and moisture impervious layer.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of receiving and transporting solid waste such as waste generated at a construction, renovation, or clean-up site includes providing a disposable waste container having a waste capacity of at least 500 pounds of suitable solid waste and a disposable pallet capable of supporting the waste container when the container is loaded with the solid waste to a user at a waste producing site. After the container has been loaded in whole or in part by the user with the container resting on and supported by the pallet and is ready for transport to a disposal site, the pallet and waste container are lifted and moved onto a transporting bed of a truck by means of a separate forklift unit. The truck has a rear transporting portion that includes a transporting bed. This rear transporting portion has longitudinally extending sidewall members that can be moved from an upright transporting position on a respective longitudinal side of said transportation portion to a second position which allows said container to be loaded onto the truck, and at least one of these sidewall members is moved to the second position to allow the pallet and waste container to be loaded onto the transporting bed from the respective longitudinal side of the transporting portion. The waste disposal truck also has a raising mechanism for raising the rear transporting portion from a horizontal transporting position to a sloping position for dumping contents of the transporting portion. The pallet and container are transported by means of the truck to a waste disposal site and then the pallet and the waste container are dumped at the waste disposal site by operating the raising mechanism.
According to one version of this method of receiving and transporting waste, the forklift unit is transported to the waste producing site by means of the truck when the waste container is ready for transport to the disposal site. The forklift unit is unloaded from the truck prior to using the forklift unit to lift and move the pallet and waste container onto the transporting bed.
Further features and advantages of the methods of receiving and transporting solid waste according to the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.